Get Ready to Free your Mind!- by Vicky Westra

In the US, the Fourth of July 4th, also known as Independence Day, is a federal holiday that celebrates America’s gaining independence from Britain with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

We celebrate this holiday with parades, barbeques, and fireworks because we value freedom and consider it one of the highest emotions we can experience. It's next to joy, love, appreciation, and empowerment. However, even though we live in what we call "the land of the free," many still experience mental and emotional bondage. We are held captive by our negative thoughts, and they keep our spirit from soaring freely.

What can we do to free ourselves from captivity, so that we can experience the freedom that we desire? The first step in taking control of our thoughts is to be aware of what we are thinking. Without awareness, we are powerless to do anything about changing the things we are thinking.

Once we become aware of our thoughts, we will soon recognize that many of our thoughts are automatic, meaning they appear without us deliberately thinking them. These thoughts are frequently driven by past experiences, or things we worry might occur in our future and are usually negative. As we become aware of these negative thought patterns, we can implement strategies to free ourselves from these thoughts.

One practice we can adopt is to replace our negative thoughts with positive ones. For example, a common negative thought is, “I don’t have what it takes to do this." You could replace it with “I can accomplish anything I set my mind to." You might be thinking, “well, isn't this just fooling yourself with a thought that isn’t true?”. We would answer that by advising you that you believe your old thought patterns because you've practiced them for so long. They have become a habit that, like any other bad habit that you want to break, will take a concerted effort. Think about this process as deliberately choosing to believe and practice positive thoughts rather than negative ones. After a time, practicing the positive thought will lead to creating a new thought pattern.

Another practice is creating a mantra that we can say when we wake up in the morning, go to sleep at night, and even throughout the day. A mantra is a sentence or phrase that you repeat over and over again. An example is "Things are always working out for me" or "I can handle all things that come my way." When a challenging situation confronts you, if you have created a habit of saying this phrase, you can access it and use it until you get into a better place.

The last practice is called witness consciousness, centered around relaxing and releasing. Witness consciousness is the practice of seeing what the mind is doing. It requires us not to act or react to what we are thinking, but instead to relax and release any tension around the thoughts. It requires us to take the role of the observer, as if we are watching ourselves from a short distance while staying detached from what is going on. You are simply witnessing what's there without judging or creating any specific thoughts around it. This technique takes some practice, but just setting an intention to practice this will get you going.

As we enter July and celebrate the freedom that many enjoy, let's also focus on achieving mental and emotional freedom. Commit to implementing one or more of these techniques in your daily life and allow your spirit to soar to new heights!

From the Green Zone,

Your Neuroshifts Family